Clarifying Assessment: Developing Typologies for Forms of Assessment in Law

Journal of the Australasian Law Teachers Association, 2013

UNSW Law Research Paper No. 2014-39

12 Pages Posted: 21 Aug 2014 Last revised: 22 Aug 2014

See all articles by Alex Steel

Alex Steel

University of New South Wales (UNSW) - UNSW Law & Justice

Date Written: December 1, 2013

Abstract

Law students are expected to complete a range of assessment throughout their degree, and do so with varying levels of success. Increasingly, research has examined the ways in which student performance can be enhanced. While much focus has been on how to best to provide students with feedback that can be acted on, this paper examines the extent to which standardisation of the way in which assessment tasks are described could assist students. The use of the same name to describe different variations of an assessment task can create confusion for students and for new members of staff. Research demonstrates that students find it difficult to understand tacit knowledge embedded in assessment descriptions and feedback, and could benefit from clearer explanations of cognitive activities and product forms. Additionally, it is clear that student dialogue over the meaning of assessment requirements is valued by students. In order to assist with this process this paper suggests the development of official typologies of assessment and authoritative explanations of assessment requirements across a course of study.

Keywords: legal education, law students, assessment, typologies, rubrics

JEL Classification: I21, K10

Suggested Citation

Steel, Alex, Clarifying Assessment: Developing Typologies for Forms of Assessment in Law (December 1, 2013). Journal of the Australasian Law Teachers Association, 2013, UNSW Law Research Paper No. 2014-39, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2484388

Alex Steel (Contact Author)

University of New South Wales (UNSW) - UNSW Law & Justice ( email )

Kensington, New South Wales 2052
Australia

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